GLEW

Great Lakes Energy Water Initiative (GLEW)

The Great Lakes Energy Water Initiative (GLEW) initiative will advance integration of energy and water resource decision-making and inform next generation energy development and deployment that better reflects the impacts of power generation on the Great Lakes ecosystem. The Commission is partnering with the U.S. Department of Energy National Laboratories, Cornell University, the Environmental Law and Policy Center and the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center as well as a host of other institutions and individuals who are leaders on the relationships between water and energy.

The first phase of this initiative is an 18-month project that aims to develop new tools and processes for integrating environmental considerations into existing energy planning and regulatory decision-making. This includes developing Great Lakes region-specific energy-water nexus maps, a modeling tool that can demonstrate water resource impact tradeoffs under different energy production scenarios, and a report on the region's energy-water nexus that analyzes the relationships between energy and the Great Lakes environment and offers a new framework for analyzing power generation impacts on Great Lakes aquatic resources.

"Many people don't realize how much water is required to produce energy. This project will enable a better understanding of the connections between energy and water resources," said Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, chairman of the Great Lakes Commission. (more....)

GLEW is funded by the Great Lakes Protection Fund, a private, nonprofit corporation formed in 1989 by the Governors of the Great Lakes States. The Fund is a permanent environmental endowment that supports collaborative actions to improve the health of the Great Lakes ecosystem. To date, the Fund has made 229 grants and related investments, investing over $57 million in projects to restore the health of the Great Lakes ecosystem.